Diaz v. MSD USA, LLC

Summary

On August 6, 2019, Edwin Diaz filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against MSD USA, LLC. Plaintiff Edwin Diaz alleges that www.monnalisa.eu is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard(s).

About the defendant

MSD USA, LLC manufactures and sells clothing, shoes, and apparel under the Monnalisa brand name.

What the complaint says

The problems the plaintiff describes with the website.

• Defendant’s Website, www.monnalisa.eu, lacks alt. text, which is the invisible code embedded beneath a graphical image on a website.
• Many features on the Website also fail to Add a label element or title attribute for each field.
• Many pages on the Website also contain the same title elements.
• The Website also contained a host of broken links, which is a hyperlink to a nonexistent or empty webpage.
• Finally, the Website requires the use of a mouse to effectively browse.

Legal claims

The laws the plaintiff says the defendant broke, called causes of action.

• Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq.
• New York State Human Rights Law
• New York City Human Rights Law
• New York State Civil Rights Law
• Declaratory Relief

What the plaintiff asks for

What the plaintiff wants the court to order.

• A preliminary and permanent injunction to prohibit Defendant from violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws ofNew York;
• A preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take all the steps necessary to make its Website into full compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that the Website is readily accessible to and usable by blind individuals;
• A preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take all the steps necessary to make the Website reservation system into full compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that the Website contains the ADA-required information making their hotel and guest rooms accessible to and usable by blind and vision-impaired individuals;
• A declaration that Defendant owns, maintains and/or operates its Website in a manner that discriminates against the blind and which fails to provide access for persons with disabilities as required by Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws of New York;
• An order certifying the Class and Sub-Classes under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) & (b)(2) and/or (b)(3), appointing Plaintiff as Class Representative, and his attorneys as Class Counsel;
• Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by proof, including all applicable statutory and punitive damages and fines, to Plaintiff and the proposed class and subclasses for violations of their civil rights under New York State Human Rights Law and City Law;
• Pre- and post-judgment interest;
• An award of costs and expenses of the action together withreasonable attorneys’ and expert fees; and
• Such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper.